As 2005 draws to a close, a year with many changes for OSNews, we have one more big change to make OSNews a better place. But first, let us take a short look at all the big changes OSNews has seen this year.

First and foremost, OSNews has seen a major overhaul of the site itself. We've introduced comment voting, registration systems, comment threads, digests, new topic/database categories, and much more. Also, we have done a lot of 'under the hood' optimizations of which you, as reader, notice little to nothing (okay, except that stupid janitor, and those pictures of burnt harddisks). We have also experimented a great deal with the whole moderation point system and everything that comes with it. I would like to thank Adam (and Eugenia for keeping an eye on him) for the immense work he has done to improve the whole website, from coding, to posting news (every now and then).

The second, less important change, was a change in management. Eugenia, the woman who single-handedly brought us, OSNews, to where we are today, stepped down from the top editorial spot, for reasons we can all understand, and sympathize with. I would like to make use of this occasion to thank her for all the great work she has done, is doing, and will do, to make OSNews a fun, and not to forget, up-to-date, place to be.

Me and Andrew jumped on the ship shortly after Eugenia 'officially' stepped down. For me and Andrew, it was a minor change. We had already been running a website similar to OSNews for about six months, and the only thing we had to change was the url of the admin back-end.

Now, to speak for myself, have the past seven months, since I took over Eugenia's role, been flawless, or spotless? No, of course not. I know myself well, hence I also know I can be harsh, direct, and arrogant. That's no surprise at all for me. Hey, I'm just a human too, I make mistakes. However, that does not mean I will change my tone. There are occasions where I truly feel offended; especially when it comes to all the biases I have been accused of (pro-Microsoft, pro-Apple, anti-KDE, pro-GNOME, anti-Microsoft, anti-Apple, pro-KDE, anti-GNOME, etc. etc.). I will never accept it when my integrity gets questioned. So, if you do question my integrity, you can expect a frontal gale (as we Dutch say).

But let's get back to that final, big change I mentioned. By very, very popular demand, we have disabled anonymous commenting-- forever. There will be no turning back. I expect you guys to have one, big question: what took you so long???

Well, me and David weren't really comfortable with solely blaming the trollish comments on anonymous users. Hence, we were weary of making such a drastic move. But, we got talked into an experiment a few months back-- and oh how we liked the peace & quiet. It was a world of difference, and that drew me and David across the line.

So, from now on, you must register in order to comment on OSNews. For the rest, nothing changes; all non-registered users can still read all the stories and comments. Of course, registration will remain free of charge, at all times.

That's all I wanted to say, for now. I would like to wish everyone, reader or otherwise, registered or not, a very happy and healthy 2006. Let us all continue to make OSNews the leading news website on alternative operating systems, and more!